Employees in all sorts of jobs are at risk of serious or fatal injury if their employers are not providing proper respiratory protection.
Each year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) compile a list of federal work safety regulations most often violated by employers in the United States during that fiscal year. It’s commonly referred to as the “OSHA Top Ten List.”
The latest list of the Top Ten OSHA Violations compiles 2019 data, as the final list for 2020 has yet to be released. From that 2019 OSHA Top Ten List, we know that Respiratory Protection (29 CFR 1910.134) was among the most commonly violated federal safety regulations by employers in 2019.
For more, read:
- Top 10 OSHA Workplace Safety Violations in 2019: Employers Violating Safety Laws;
- OSHA’s Top Ten Serious or Willful Violations of Worker Safety Laws; and
- Companies Ignore OSHA Safety Regulations and Workers Get Hurt on the Job.
Why is There a Need for On-the-Job Respiratory Protection?
From the Respiratory Protection regulation itself, respiratory protection is explained as efforts undertaken to protect against “…. occupational diseases caused by breathing air contaminated with harmful dusts, fogs, fumes, mists, gases, smokes, sprays, or vapors, the primary objective shall be to prevent atmospheric contamination.”
This respiratory protection is needed in all types of work and across various industries. These safety devices protect workers from hazards that include (1) insufficient oxygen environments as well as (2) harmful or toxic materials found in dust, fog, smoke, mist, gas, vapor, or spray.
Without proper respiratory protection, the employee is exposed to dangerous airborne particles, which once inhaled, can cause serious bodily injury or death from things like cancer, lung impairment, and a variety of diseases.
What is Respiratory Protection for Workers?
Workers are made safe from these worksite dangers in various ways. They include things like: (1) site enclosures; (2) confinement of the work; (3) various ventilation systems; and (4) substitution of less toxic materials.
If these “engineering control measures” are not in place (either because they are being created or because they are not possible given the particular circumstances) then personal respirators are to be provided to the workers who will be exposed to the respiratory hazards.
What are Respirators?
Respirators come in two basic forms. There are those that clean the workplace atmosphere, called “atmosphere-supplying respirators,” and those that are worn by the employee, called “air-purifying respirators.”
Personally worn “air-purifying respirators” can use filters, cartridges, or canisters to clean the air that is being inhaled by the wearer.
Each employer has the duty of care not only (1) to make sure workers are being provided with the appropriate respirators to protect them from harm but (2) to provide each employee with an effective respirator while they are exposed to the inhalation hazard.
Face Masks are Respirators
Included in “air-purifying respirators” are N95 face masks, which have become widely known to the general public during the Coronavirus Pandemic. See, “GM Gets OK to Make N95 Face Masks: Where They’ll be Used,” written by Jamie L. LaReau for the Detroit Free Press and published by USA Today on July 15, 2020; and “Catholic Hospitals Urge Retailers to Stop Selling N95 Masks,” written by David Ryan and published on August 12, 2020 by the Catholic Weekly.
OSHA’s use of the term “N95” defines the particular respirator by its (1) filter material and (2) its protective properties. The designation “N” means it is not resistant to oil; “95” explains that the filter will remove at least 95% of the unwanted particles.
The Need for Respirators on the Job in Illinois and Indiana
Under federal law, every employee needs to be provided a proper respirator for any work site when there is a risk of “atmospheric contamination” where the worker can inhale toxins or hazardous particles. Of course, COVID news coverage educates on the need for respiratory protection for those who work in the health care industry. There has been an ongoing shortage of N95 face masks for nurses and doctors during the Coronavirus Pandemic. See, e.g., “Running Low on New N95s? Reach for These Alternatives,” written by Molly Walker and published in MedPageToday on August 11, 2020.
However, respiratory protection is also required in a variety of other industries here in Illinois and Indiana. These include:
- Workers Exposed to Bromopropane, including Dry Cleaner Cashiers and Machine Operators; Workers near Degreasers; and Foam Cushion Fabrication Workers. If inhaled, the worker is vulnerable to various life-threatening neurological illnesses as well as cancer and reproductive disorders. (OSHA 3676 – 2014)
- Those Working with Abrasive Blasting Materials in the Construction Industry and elsewhere, where high velocity streams of the abrasive material are used to clean an object or surface, remove burrs, apply a texture, or prepare a surface for the application of paint or other type of coating. Things like Silica sand (crystalline); Coal slag; Garnet sand; Nickel slag; Copper slag; Glass (beads or crushed); Steel shot; Steel grit or Specular hematite (iron ore) can cause serious harm if inhaled by the worker including silicosis and lung cancer (OSHA FS 3697 – 2014).
- Commercial Swine Farmers and Pork Producers (2010) because inhaling absent respiratory protection exposes pig farmers and those working in the pork production industry to different influenza viruses which can result in serious or lethal consequences.
Victims of Serious Illness or Death Caused by Failure to Have Respiratory Protection on the Job
Because of COVID-19, almost everyone in Illinois and Indiana is becoming very aware of the invisible and sometimes deadly dangers that can enter our bodies simply by inhalation. Mandatory face mask executive orders are a clear lesson to us all on the need for respiratory protection.
However, it is important for all workers to understand that breathing hazardous contaminants or particulates while on the job is a danger against which the employer should be protecting employees.
Respiratory protection is the duty of the employer. Nevertheless, employers are notorious for failing to provide and protect workers from breathing in toxins or dangerous particulates, as the OSHA Top Ten List confirms.
These invisible risks exist on all sorts of job sites. A cashier in a dry cleaner may need respiratory protection, warns OSHA, as does a construction worker blasting off old paint. Even someone working on a pig farm in rural Indiana or Illinois is in need of respiratory protection.
If you or a loved one have become ill with a respiratory-related illness, then you may want to investigate whether or not your bodily injury is the result of an employer’s failure to provide proper respiratory protection on the job site. The breach of that duty of care can form the basis of a legal claim for relief under the state laws of Indiana and Illinois.
Invisible dangers can be inhaled in a wide variety of work places and job sites. Employers are well-known for disrespecting this reality and putting their employees at risks. Please be careful out there!
